1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to television receivers, and more particularly, to a method of determining the status of a plurality of signal input ports in a television receiver and a television receiver using the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A television receiver typically includes a plurality of signal input ports, each of which enables an electrical connection to one of several peripheral devices supplying to the television receiver a variety of signal inputs, including, for example, the output of a digital video disc (DVD) player, a cable television (CATV) broadcast signal, and/or other auxiliary video inputs in an environment of a digital television receiver connected as part of a home entertainment system. These signal input ports—along with signal output ports, audio only ports, and other connection points—are typically arranged on a rear panel of a digital television receiver, and though each port may be labeled according to its signal source, users generally have difficulty in understanding their proper usages and their functional relationship with respect to the television receiver. Moreover, as conventional home entertainment systems become more sophisticated to provide for greater numbers of potential inputs and flexibility and as state-of-the-art digital television receivers become more complex as a result, the rear panel connections will become increasingly varied and thus more difficult to manage.
Meanwhile, a contemporary television receiver provides means, usually via an on-screen display (OSD) menu, to confirm input of a signal corresponding to any one of the signal input ports. To do so, an OSD menu may be selected, enabling a manipulation to set the television receiver's current input mode in correspondence to each selected input signal in turn. Thus, a manual selection of each signal input port is required to enable a user to be informed of the current status of any one of the signal input ports, namely, to determine whether the input signal is present at a corresponding signal input port. This method is inconvenient, necessitating an interruption of broadcast signal viewing and a separate OSD menu manipulation for each of many signal input ports.